Nollywood can boost retail investor activity in capital market’-NGX

The Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Mr Temi Popoola, has said that the domestic entertainment sector, Nollywood, can help to further boost retail investor activity in the capital market due to its appeal to Nigeria’s younger generation.

Popoola said this at the Closing Gong Ceremony commemorating the final trading day of the year and celebrating the achievements of Nollywood stalwart and CEO of RMD Productions, Mr. Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD).

Retail investor activity

The CEO stated that Nollywood plays a critical role in selling the Nigerian economy and can help to catalyze increased retail investor activity by educating the younger generation to further crowd them into the market.

“Nollywood stakeholders can also leverage the market to raise the capital to fund their businesses and projects, deepening the synergy between the creative sector and the capital market,” he said.

Mofe Damijo, giving his remakes also noted that it was important that the business community and the creative sector stimulate interactions as both sides had tremendous value to offer each other and drive the growth of the Nigerian economy.

“We cannot promote Nigeria or attract foreign investment without integrating our art and culture into it, he said, adding that other countries who promote their economies on international platforms go through their art and culture,” he said.

What you should know

Some stakeholders recently called for the integration of Nollywood into the capital market to deepen the market as well as boost funding for Nigeria’s entertainment industry.

Speaking during a panel discussion at a workshop, the Head, of Ecosystem Integration, VFD Group, Folagbade Adeyemi, pointed out that despite the poor funding available to players in the media and entertainment sector in Nigeria, they have been able to deliver high returns and gained global reckoning.

He said, “There is a section of the economy that has been delivering high growth but has been fully excluded; entertainment and media. Recently, a movie, Black Book, came out. It was one of the highest-viewed movies on the streaming platforms across Nigeria, across Africa, and globally. We were invested in it.

“The truth is, Nigeria, South Korea, and India probably have the highest compound value per person in this sector. Nigeria has the highest currently compared to the amount that we invest per capita which is $15 and we see much work.

“The next to us is India, which is about $45 per capita, then South Korea. These are major hubs of entertainment and media, and not only do they come with their product, but they also come with their value chain.

“There is a growth in that space, we just haven’t created structure for it and until we can create structure around it, we won’t see significant returns.”

Adeyemi added that at this point, the capital market and its players needed to build structures that would drive the entertainment structure.

He also called on regulators to provide the framework that would make that happen.

“I think the onus is on the market to build structures around driving entertainment. As much as possible, the regulator is there to create a framework for safety and structure but ultimately, if you look at the west and you look at the east, typically, there are different ways to drive entertainment into the market.

“I think the market has to work on offering different structures that the regulator will review, endorse, and then ultimately push,” he said.